Dennis Manteit

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Thursday, 18th February, 1943
Current Age
81 years and 39 days
Place Of Birth
Jandowae, Queensland, Australia

Biography

Hervey Bay product's early rep career while playing with Toowoomba was hampered by injury but after moving to Brisbane Brothers the young forward won a place (with team-mate John Gleeson) on the 1967-68 Kangaroo Tour. Manteit was sent from the field in his Test debut in Australia’s First Test loss but returned to the Test team for the deciding Third Test of the series (which saw Australia retain the Ashes). Manteit, who was later named as the man behind the infamous ‘bowler hat incident on the troubled tour, played in one other Test match on tour, against France. The following year the seasoned prop played in Australia's victorious World Cup campaign and also toured NZ with the Australian team in 1969. C’bury had attempted to sign Manteit as early as 1968 but the QRL placed bans on their Kangaroo representatives which prevented them from joining Sydney clubs. The matter went to the High Court in 1969 with the QRL ruling that players having given 4-5 years state service could transfer. C’bury agreed to pay the transfer fee but could not produce the necessary funds and it was not until 1970 that Manteit came to Sydney. At first, he found it hard to live up to his huge reputation and suffered a knee injury that wouldn't allow him to last a full game. Manteit tested the loyalty of some hard-nosed C’bury fans. When he was suspended in a club match in 1972 he even received death threats from irate fans. After missing C’bury’s grand final match against Easts in 1974, Manteit saw out his career with Balmain and captained the Tigers to a win in the 1976 Amco Cup.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Tour Matches Toowoomba 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Interstate Matches 15 1 -   - 3 1 14 0 6.67% List
Tour Matches Queensland Firsts 3 2 -   - 6 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches Australia 7 5 -   - 15 4 2 1 57.14% List
Test Series 3 - -   - - 1 1 1 33.33% List
The Ashes 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
World Cup 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NRL 98 15 -   - 45 50 44 4 51.02% List
Craven Mild Cup 10 - -   - - 4 5 1 40.00% List
NRL Finals 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
National Panasonic Cup 2 2 -   - 6 1 1 0 50.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1967-68 4 - -   - - 2 1 1 50.00% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1967-1968 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Toowoomba 1963-64 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
QLD Firsts 1964-69 18 3 -   - 9 3 15 0 16.67% List
NSW City Seconds 1972 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1963-1972 21 4 0   0 12 4 17 0 19.05% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury NSWRFL 1970 9 1 -   - 3 6 3 0 66.67% List
Canterbury NSWRFL 1971 17 2 -   - 6 11 6 0 64.71% List
Canterbury NSWRFL 1972 13 2 -   - 6 6 7 0 46.15% List
Canterbury NSWRFL 1973 14 3 -   - 9 7 6 1 50.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1974 16 1 -   - 3 3 11 2 18.75% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1975 17 6 -   - 18 8 9 0 47.06% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1976 12 - -   - - 9 2 1 75.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury 1970-73 53 8 -   - 24 30 22 1 56.60% List
Balmain 1974-76 45 7 -   - 21 20 22 3 44.44% List
Overall1970-1976 98 15 0   0 45 50 44 4 51.02% List

Your Say

  • Polysci
    08/05/2012

    A 'hard man' enforcer in the mould of fellow Queenslander, Kevin Ryan. Not known for taking a backward step on the field, would have been interesting to see him play in the State of Origin era.

  • Tezza from Bray Park
    22/05/2012

    My memory of bigh Dennis was watching him playing for Brothers in Brisbane against their old foes Norths, They were rugged affairs with him and Peter Gallagher from Brothers and Don Simpson and Peter Hall from Norths, all very big units and the front row back in the mid 60s was not a place for the faint hearted

  • JIM LAMB
    23/08/2016

    HE WAS SOME FOOTBALLER,AS I RECALL. STARTED FOR Qld as a raw boned 14stone second rower,but became a top class ball running 16 stone front rower. The Brothers side he played for was outstanding, as was the Norths side of that time. Only side to match that Brothers side was the outstanding Wynnum Manly side of the mid eighties in my opinion. Manteit and another Qlder, John WITTENBERG, were among my favourite front rowers of the sixties.Both should have played more Tests than they actually played for Australia. Manteit maybe slightly better than Wittenberg,but that would be a close call!!

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    24/04/2019

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  • Glen Wilkie
    02/03/2020

    I was ball boy at Corbett Park during Brothers rule Brothers v Norths a night match Dennis cover tackled half back Johnny Brown out of touch a metre from the try line knocked me so far out of the park needed to catch a taxi back to the ground!!

  • Keith cook
    29/11/2023

    I was luck enough to play with the big man. He always looked after us younger blokes. He always had your back and encouraged our team to do better. Mont never took a step back on the field or off. I'm proud to say I was a team mate of his. Hope you're doing good up in Qld Mont. Hi to to Gwen. Kc

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Contributions: Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Bill Bates, AJ Lucantonio